Office-desk utensil.



J. V. WASHBURNE.

OFFICE DESK UTENSIL.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.23. 1915.

1,156,194. Patnted Oct. 12, 1915.

IN) NTOI? TED STATES PATEN @FFEQE.

JAMES V. WASI-IBURNE, OF FULTON, NEW YORK...

. OFFICE-DESK nrnivs n.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented oet; 12,1915.

Application filed March 23, 1915; Serial No. 16,334.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, JAMES V. WVAsHBURNE, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Fulton, in the county of Oswego, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Oflice-Desk Utensils, of which thefollowing, taken in conned tion with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and eXact description.

This invention relates to certain improvements in office desk utensils and refers more particularly to a holder for paper clips and similar small article's which are used more or less extensively in oflice work.

I am aware that devices for holding pins and similar small articles have heretofore beenproposed, but in those with which I am familiar it has been necessary to employ an auxiliary support for the magazine resting upon the tray and held in place by movable detents or catches, and that the opening in the auxiliary support was made relatively small for the purpose of preventing an ex-* cessive quantity of the articles passing into Under these cond it'urn themagazine' the tray at one time. tions, it is necessary to back and forth several times before discharging one or more of theartic'les, which renders that device objectionable and limits its use to pins or similar straight fasteners. main object is to produce a simple, compact and comparatively inexpensive device for holding allkinds of paper fasteners and similar small articles and to render the feeding of a limited number ofsuch articles from the magazine into the underlying tray more certain by a slight turningmovement of the magazine upon the tray; I

Another object is to obviate the necessity for interposition of any'auXiliar-y magazine support and to mount themagazine directly upon the tray in such mann r be rotated freely IlIlGltlfiGl direction'without liability of displacing'it from-the t'ray.

A further'object is to' provide the tray with a partition" underlying'theopen lower end of the magazine arranged in such manner as to retract the discharge of the articles from said into the tray in any considerable quantity,

magazine 65 interior ofthe' magazine with lengthwise ribs or' projections capable of engaging and agiand at the same time separating those which are discharged tocause' them'to travelt'o the lower portion parts of the device will be brought out in" the following description.

In the draWings-Figure '1 is atop plan of a complete clip holderembodying the features of my invention. Fig. 2' is'a longitudinal vertical sectional view of the same taken on line 2+2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a top plan of a detached base or tray. Fig. fis an inverted plan of the detached 'i'nag-azine.

This device is made up of two parts only, a base or tray 1'- and -2, both of which parts are preferably made of glass or similar non-corrodible and comparatively inexpensive material, although it is evident that itmay be'madeof metalg'such as cast iron, or the'ba'se of metal and; the upper part of glass, as may be desired. j The main' body of the base l'i's'1iiultislded, in this instance'octagonal, and is pro videdin its upper side with a circular re'- cess forming a marginal flange and a substantially to form a suit'able seat and retaining flange from the main body toward the front and p the top to form a delivery also recessed in pocket 7 and front and side marginal flanges 8 and -9', the rear ends of the flanges 9" merging with the adjacent portions of the marginal flanges sur rounding the recess 3'.

The front 4 and corresponding portion of: the ledge 5 are cut away to form a delivery passage 10 ininates inthe' main body inthe formof a circle concentric with the axis thereof and; therefore concentric with the recess-3+, thereby forming a'continuou's passage from a point directly under the rear edge of the" magazine 2"-to'the delivery pocket 7, the bottom of said passage being" inclined downwardly and' forwardly to said delivery pocket; The lodge and bottom of' the delivery" pocket '7 are disposed" in substantially a cap or magazine portion of the marginalffange which eXtendsjinto and ter horizontal planes one above the other a suflicient distance apart so that the inclined bottom as -10 will have sufficient pitch to cause any articles which may be deposited thereon to gravitate easily into the pocket -7--. This inclined bottom or way 10 is provided with a raised flange or partition -11- running lengthwise thereof substantially midway between the sides and rising to a point in proximity to the plane of the ledge -5 upon which the lower open end of the magazine -2- rests, the upper edge of said flange or partition being substantially parallel with the inclined bottom 10, while its forward edge is also inclined forwardly and downwardly to the rear edge of the pocket 7-.

The rear edge of the flange is inclined slightly at an angle to the horizontal plane of the ledge 5 and lies directly under the lower open end of the magazine and to gether with the inclined portion of the bottom 10 at the rear thereof constitutes a bottom support for the articles as a body which may be held in the magazine 2 and serves together with the magazine to prevent the precipitation of the entire col lection of such articles from the magazine into the pocket -7. This temporary retention of the articles as a bodv in the magazine is aided by the disposition of the rear edge of the flange 11 relatively to the portion of the inclined bottom 10 at the rear thereof, in that those two parts meet in anobtuse angle almost directly under the center of the open end of the magazine, the rear edge as -11 being inclined upwardly toward the front edge of the magazine at about the same angle to a horizontal plane as the downward inclination of the bottom 10-. In addition to this function of the flange 11 just described, it also serves to separate the articles so that when released by the turning of the magazine upon the ledge -5 and relatively to the flange 11-, the articles in the magazine, which are also turned therewith, will be drawn across the underlying edge -11- of the partition, thereby freeing the adjacent articles from the main body and allowing them to pass downwardly along the inclined plane -10- at either side of the partition, and to gravitate to the corresponding corners of the delivery pocket -7 from which they may be easily selected and drawn out by hand one by one.

The magazine -2 is preferably made in the form of a cup and is inverted so that its lower edge rests upon the ledge 5 within the marginal flange l, and therefore, within the recess -3, the marginal flange -4 serving to hold it against accidental lateral displacement. As illustrated, the lower open end of the magazine is provided with an outwardly projecting annular flange 13 and its upper end 1 is preferably spherical, the sides and top being provided with lengthwise ribs or fins 15 extending from the lower ends to the center of the top, the object of which is to cause the entire body of articles contained therein to turn with the magazine which is rotatable by hand freely upon the ledge 5 in either direction, thereby causing the lowermost articles to be brushed against the rear inclined edge of the flange 11 to loosen them and allow them to gravitate upon the inclined surface -l0 and thence into the pocket -7, the latter being wholly at the front of the magazine 1 where the articles may be easily withdrawn one by one by the flngers as desired, and in order to facilitate the concentration of the articles within the pocket and to enable them to be easily withdrawn therefrom, the inner sides of the marginal flanges -8 and -9 are preferably beveled as shown.

When the magazine is emptied, it may be readily removed by hand and placed in an upright position and refilled from any source of supply, and while in this position the tray may be placed over and upon the open end of the magazine and then the entire device inverted to the position shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings ready for operation, under which conditions it is evident that the articles as a body will drop slightly until restrained by the underlying inclined bottom 10 of the tray and adjacent inclined edge 11 of the partition 11.

Whenever the articles are exhausted from the pocket -7-, it is simply necessary to. turn the magazine 2 a slight distance in either direction by hand, thereby causing the rear edge of the partition 11- to separate one or more of the articles from the main bodv to allow the separated articles to gravitate into the pocket -7-.

What I claim is:

1. In a holder for paper clips and similar small articles, the combination of a tray having an inclined bottom and a partition lengthwise thereof, and a magazine for the articles rotatably mounted on the tray and having an open bottom directly over a portion of the partition.

2. In a holder for paper clips and similar small articles, the combination of a tray having an inclined bottom and a delivery pocket at the forward end of the incline, a magazine for the articles rotatably mounted directly upon a portion of the tray directly over the inclined bottom, and a flange on the inclined bottom projecting under the open lower end of the magazine in close proximity thereto for engaging and separating the adjacent articles from the main body as the magazine is rotated.

3. In a small articles, the combination of a tray having an inclined bottom and a circular recess in its top extending around the sides and rear end of the inclined bottom, and a magazine for the articles having an open lower end seated in said recess and rotatable therein, said magazine being provided with inwardly projecting fins to cause the articles therein to engage adjacent articles and cause the entire body of such articles to rotate with the magazine.

4. In a holder for paper clips and similar small articles, the combination of a tray having an inclined way, a magazine having its lower end open and rotatably mounted on the tray directly above a portion of the inclined way, and an upward projection on the inclined portion of the tray directly under the open end of the magazine for engaging and separating the lowermost articles from the main body thereof.

projecting fins to 5. In a holder for paper clips and similar small articles, the combination of a tray having an inclined way, a magazine having its lower end open and rotatably mounted on the tray directly above a portion of the inclined way, and an upward projection on the inclined portion of the tray directly under the open end of the magazine for engaging and separating the lowermost articles from the main body thereof, said magazine being provided with inwardly cause the entire body of articles to be agitated as the magazine is rotated.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this th day of March, 1915.

JAMES V. WASHBURNE.

WVitnesses:

H. E. CHASE, ALIcE M. CANNON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

